UN sees evidence of possible war crimes in Ukraine

The United Nations on Thursday said Ukraine’s forces had indiscriminately shelled residents while pro-Russian insurgents and Kiev battalions had summarily killed civilians in what may have constituted “war crimes”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) study painted a bloody picture of inhumane treatment of captives and non-combatants as well as the engagement of multiple-rocket systems never intended for use in urban areas. It particularly pointed the finger of blame at rebel groups within the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Lugansk and Donetsk — a separatist region in Ukraine’s eastern rustbelt that Kiev says is backed up by Russia.